Help with options

[Mephisto]

Hello to all,
I am really glad I found this Forum. I have this one major problem that I need to solve:

I need to Receive/Make cheap phone calls between a Canadian land line and my Mobile phone (which is based in Germany). The phone calls will be many hours per day, 6 days a week, for a few weeks.

Basically, the options right now are

1) 5c/minute (Euro) using this http://www.01051mobile.de/ if I call a Canadian land line (I found it on the web, but have not used it)

2) 9c/minute using Blauworld; incoming calls free (I currently have this SIM card in my mobile phone)

3) or something like 15c/minute if the land line calls me (Calling Card charge incurred by the Canadian caller).

It doesn't matter who accepts the calling charges in this situation (The Canadian side or me).

I have a German address and a bank account, and am willing to enter into a contract with any provider as long as I end up paying less than 5c/minute on a call between Canada and Germany. I will be staying in Germany for more than 2 years, so long-term contracts up to 2 years are fine with me.

Any help will be much appreciated.

PS - I also found this http://www.dialnow.com/en/index.html which says it has 0c/min calls to Canada - but do I have to call a local number first and pay the local rate (which would rule out Blauworld since that is 19c/min locally)? If someone has any experience with this service please let me know,

Thank you very much in advance,
Cheers,
Pawel

[snaimon]

Why don't you try getting a German land line OR MUST YOU USE the mobile?
I will be very surprised if the 5 cent rate CA to German Cell will work. I have never seen rates that low to cell phone lines. Of course all INBOUND to European INLAND cells are free.

You might consider XtraNONSTOP allows up to 2 hours for 29 ecents total in combination with a service like ENJOYPREPAID. They have local German lines where you can dial and pay like 3 US cents per minute to USA/CANADA. That way a two hour call will cost 29 ecents plus 3 * 120 or $3.60 US. That is still a hefty $1000+ phone bill per year.

Stan

[PhotoJim]

There are ways to get inbound calls from Canada for around 20 US cents per minute or so, if you use a VoIP provider with a Canadian DID (e.g. voip.ms). That's about the lowest I've seen.

From what I've seen, the cheapest way for Europeans to call mobiles is to call them with their own mobiles, and that's not an option for Canadians because we will pay overseas toll on our mobile here (and to a mobile number, the rates are even more obnoxious than the already nasty overseas rates we pay to fixed lines).

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by Mephisto

1) 5c/minute (Euro) using this http://www.01051mobile.de/ if I call a Canadian land line (I found it on the web, but have not used it)

01051mobile is not selling SIM cards anymore. Sometimes you can get one used on ebay. It works very well (have one myself....)

Chris

[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by snaimon

Why don't you try getting a German land line OR MUST YOU USE the mobile?
I will be very surprised if the 5 cent rate CA to German Cell will work. I have never seen rates that low to cell phone lines. Of course all INBOUND to European INLAND cells are free.

You might consider XtraNONSTOP allows up to 2 hours for 29 ecents total in combination with a service like ENJOYPREPAID. They have local German lines where you can dial and pay like 3 US cents per minute to USA/CANADA. That way a two hour call will cost 29 ecents plus 3 * 120 or $3.60 US. That is still a hefty $1000+ phone bill per year.

Stan

Hey Stan,
thank you for your reply. The rate is actually German Cell to Canadian Land Line, but, as someone a bit lower mentioned, they do not sell it any longer (I will inquire further into that). Thank you for your information about Xtranonstop; I will check it out. If you have any more ideas, let me know,
Cheers,
Pawel

[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by PhotoJim

There are ways to get inbound calls from Canada for around 20 US cents per minute or so, if you use a VoIP provider with a Canadian DID (e.g. voip.ms). That's about the lowest I've seen.

From what I've seen, the cheapest way for Europeans to call mobiles is to call them with their own mobiles, and that's not an option for Canadians because we will pay overseas toll on our mobile here (and to a mobile number, the rates are even more obnoxious than the already nasty overseas rates we pay to fixed lines).

Hello,
thank you for your information, but someone from Canada was using a calling card earlier yesterday to call my German Blauworld-equipped cell phone, and for the price of a $3.50 card (CAD) they were able to call me for 25 mins, without any charge coming to me. Thanks again for your help, and if you come across something interesting do let me know,
Cheers,
Pawel

[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by dg7feq

01051mobile is not selling SIM cards anymore. Sometimes you can get one used on ebay. It works very well (have one myself....)

Chris

Hello Chris,
thanks for the heads up - you're not planning to sell your card anytime soon, are you...?
Cheers,
Pawel

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by Mephisto

Hello,
...the price of a $3.50 card (CAD) they were able to call me for 25 mins, without any charge coming to me. ...
Pawel

Inbound calls to a German Cell in Germany is ALWAYS FREE for the cell owner. Not true if you "roam" outside Germany or if you are near a border and the card REGISTERS on a non-German network.

14 cents per minute is not a bad rate.

As I wrote, considering the costs to you or the other parties, you might think about a LAND LINE. If you are working in an office, can't your contacts in CA call that land line? The call should be < 5 cents per minute, alot lower than the 14 to call a cell.

Stan

[Motel75]

If you can get a landline, Alice offers a flat rate for calls to the US, Canada, and landlines in Europe and a few other countries (www.alice-dsl.de). Combined with unlimited DSL, it costs about 50 euros a month (you can make unlimited calls for this amount). You might find this a cost-effective option, and they don't have fixed contract length, you can cancel service whenever you need to.

[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by snaimon

Inbound calls to a German Cell in Germany is ALWAYS FREE for the cell owner. Not true if you "roam" outside Germany or if you are near a border and the card REGISTERS on a non-German network.

14 cents per minute is not a bad rate.

As I wrote, considering the costs to you or the other parties, you might think about a LAND LINE. If you are working in an office, can't your contacts in CA call that land line? The call should be < 5 cents per minute, alot lower than the 14 to call a cell.

Stan

Hello Stan,
Unfortunately I must be on the move almost every week while in Germany, and some of my calls will be from trains, etc. Thanks for your help,
Cheers,
Pawel